it's thanks - giving time!

The power of gratitude - that is what we should take time for today…and everyday. I'm always worried when I make my daily gratitude list that I'm just going through the motions, and sometimes maybe I am, but I am truly thankful everyday that I have a wonderful, funny, inspiring, talented and clever family, a roof over my had, indoor plumbing, central heating, and food on the table and in the refrigerator. I'm often dumbstruck by sunrises and sunsets, I love spotting coyotes on my desert walks, I love that I have a place to garden and two horses and a goat, two sweet Corgis of my own and their brothers visiting often. I try to remember daily, in the midst of rushed work, crazy phones and problems to solve, that I really have all I'll ever need right now.
    I wish everyone a wonderful day today no matter how you spend it. Mike and I and our brother-in-law will have turkey, stuffing, potatoes and gravy (the kids are all going to in-laws, etc, for the day), and I'll watch Miracle on 34th Street, a tradition I keep to kick off the holiday season. And I'm going to be adventurous tomorrow and shop til I drop on Black Friday. I may even start with the crazy early sales. Never have done it. Just thought it might be fun, and can't deny the added bonus of getting most of my Christmas shopping done. And I'll share my last fall scene of the season. Happy Thanksgiving.  

crafting & gardening

Patrick is now 18 months, and I finally got to making a little quilt for him. I had knit one before he was born, but it took me a while to find the right material for this little one-piece quilt. After I found it - well - let's just say it took me a while to get back to the sewing machine. He now carries this around when I babysit him, at least once a week. I took this photo in my far back garden. This is the one garden that is fenced off from the dogs. The birds, rabbits and chipmunks can run amok back here and even taunt the Corgis in safety. The tableau, old bathroom sink on a wood frame, is one of my pots. I've been able to find old things out in the desert - the wood frame - and was also lucky enough to get this old sink from the Capurro ranch at the front of the valley before it turned into a Home Depot, Costco and shops, shops, shops. So I saved a little history of what used to be when we could ride this wild desert before it became tame. Oh, yes, I'm a crafter. I think I've said that before. I try my hand at knitting, book making, sewing, embroidery, card making, writing - definitely a master of none - just do it to soothe my soul. 

love to use 'found' items in my garden…

finally finished Patrick's blanket…

Corgis at Kiley Ranch

My daughter and I often walk at the Kiley Ranch, once a real working ranch and now left with some beautiful - and some just old - buildings but no more cattle. The land was being developed, quite nicely actually, but the slow down hit, and we are the winners in this one. We have all this beautiful open space to walk in, and the pups can run. These girls and boys love to run, and two of them, sister and brother Stella and Joe, do not mind very well. The youngest of the four, my Frieda, is very good, and Jack, the oldest, also minds well. But on this walk, there are no cars, and so far the coyotes we've run into have been far, far away and definitely not interested in getting any closer to us. So Brooke and I walk, the Corgis explore, and we all dream of owning such a wonderful, grand expanse of land. We would turn it into a working ranch/park/maybe destination spot. My son could get back to training horse - ahh, such dreams. In the meantime, the Corgis (all from the same mother), Brooke and I enjoy wonderful quiet, hawks flying overhead and occasional coyote gangs loping through the adjacent fields.

Stella, Frieda, Joe & Jack

Another year passes

It's time again to mark the passing of another year.These last months have proved to be a considerable improvement over 2009 and the beginning of 2010. I've added some me time to the busy schedule, have projects in the works for Christmas projects, have most of the fall garden clean up completed and am drawing up a plan to renew a flower bed that had become - well - messy. And I've decided to return to hopefulness. Because there is really nothing I can do about anything but me, I'll take responsibility of filling myself with joy and letting that vibration be what I send into the world. I'll start creating again - with paper, material, pen and nature. I'll observe everything that I love and take joy in it daily. What I like best about my life right now is getting back to this person I was. She's back. I like her and want only to improve on that. Notice this sunset I've posted from last week. Rarely an evening goes by without a spectacular sky in the morning and evening. Right now the sun is glowing as it drops behind the Sierra Nevada range that runs along the Truckee Meadows - another breathtaking end to a day. Hard not to feel the beauty. May you all be blessed by wonderful nature and at least one joyous moment everyday. 

Why I love it out here!

As I took the dogs walking last Sunday, I couldn't resist photographing these reeds in the "lake." It's actually one of the springs that brought a Spanish family here to settle a ranch, and our area became known as Spanish Springs. These springs actually bubbled out in these fields feeding all sorts of wildlife, farm land, cows and horses. When builders bought the property, they dug a big hole and let it fill up. Now all sorts of water fowl stop by and killdeer have their babies on the surrounding ledges. I can still find beauty out here, not to mention the thrill of running into an occasional hawk. I met a hawk in the same place the previous Sunday and was happy I'd brought my camera along to capture this one taking off.

Beautiful Fall

This fall has been particularly beautiful, and luckily, most of my trees turned. I took these photos  of the leaves on Tuesday morning before a very cold storm swept in and knocked most of the leaves off the trees. These are trees in my front and back yards that I planted for color, and this is one of the big reward years. (Sometimes the hard freezes hit before the trees have turned and just freeze them on the limbs, brown and crinkly.) The colors are part of the reason I love fall. And then there is the late blooming poppy. There were three buds and this one made it before the freeze.

And the Corgi Hot Dogs

And then there are the 4-legged variety of trick or treaters, my daughters Corgis Jack and Joe. Yes, they are hot dogs! Jack, the one on the left, manages to discard his costume but is patient when to get it back on so I can photograph him. These are the brothers to my two females. Happy fall!

Halloween has come and gone!

Did you know that Halloween is a holiday here - kind of. I spent my youth wondering why kids in other states didn't get this wonderful day off from school; how lucky was I to live in a state that celebrated Halloween by letting kids out of school! I really don't remember when I realized the day off was to celebrate the state of Nevada's birthday. Oh well, we still had a holiday. Of course, it was Sunday this year, and even though I decorate and welcome all trick or treaters, since we moved into the country where houses are far apart, we get few to none of those costumed children. However, we had one special trick or treater this year, my grandson, Patrick. Below are photos of him not being so sure about knocking on the door, and then being enticed by - drum roll here - candy!

Patrick not so sure about this…and then -

The Potato and the Egg

The potato and the egg. Last night I cooked up a bunch of red potatoes from my garden for Monday night dinner. I had a bag of them sitting on the floor and we all had a good laugh when looking at some of the monsters. Red (or new) potatoes are usually small, but these potatoes were my best growers out of everything I planted this year. Potatoes never let you down. Anyway, my daughter suggested I take a photo alongside an egg to get a comparison. Just thought I would share on this blustery but pretty warm for November fall day.